1997 Ferrari 550 Maranello 5.5 V12

Summary:

The ultimate all round supercar

Faults:

Outside temperature gauge failed.

Minor seat wear on driver's side outer edge.

Water leaking into the foot-well due to blocked air con pipe outflow.

General Comments:

Superb car to drive, the V12 engine provides effortless performance in any gear.

The clutch and gearbox were easy to use, although the clutch felt like it needed replacing soon when I sold it at 20K miles.

Changed the standard rear silencers for some Tubi Sport tubes, the standard exhausts are too quiet in my opinion, with the Tubi's you could hear the V12 much better!

Fuel consumption was approx 15mpg, although up to 20 mpg was possible if driving sensibly, oil consumption was negligible.

Servicing costs were high, but not unexpected, I had one service at a cost of £1750 at a main agent. Tyre wear was excessive, I did 3 pairs of rears and a pair of fronts in 6000 miles! No track days, but quite a few swift getaways!

The car seemed very well built, it never let me down and the paintwork was superb. Depreciation was OK, I paid £60K for it and sold it for £55K 18 months later. The first owner parted with £160k for it though.

Disappointments were the aforementioned standard exhaust, the stereo had poor sound although hardly high priority on a car like this, and the general abuse from other drivers when driving a Ferrari, something I've never encountered driving Maseratis.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 14th December, 2006

14th Dec 2006, 16:04

You did what!!??? you sold it!!!

Uhhhghhh I was envying you until I read that you SOLD IT!

10th Jan 2007, 11:59

Excellent review. I share the same disappointment as you on the only negative part of Ferrari ownership, which is the way the car is received by a small part of the public. I own a F355, and although most of the reactions I get about the car are positive, I once came back to my car to find a very deep scratch running the entire length of the passenger side after parking it outside a family member's house. It seems to me that people think because you own a Ferrari, you can afford to pay for the damage and not bat an eyelid, and that's not the way it is!